Because
by Crystal di Angelo
Summary: Extract: Catelyn Stark stormed up the stairs, dragging her husband's bastard by the ear. She had enough. This bastard had been nothing but trouble!
1. Chapter 1

**To those that thought this was a new chapter for The Incomplete Prophecy…sorry. I have run out of ideas about that one and would gladly welcome new ideas from you guys. Just to let you know I am still alive, here is a story…well, more of a one-shot.**

**Eddard Stark-31**

**Catelyn Stark-29**

**Jon Snow-13**

**Robb Stark-14**

**Brandon Stark-9**

**Sansa Stark-11**

**Arya Stark-9**

**Rickon Stark-2**

**I messed up their ages a little, so that their character can be the same as it should be at their age.**

Catelyn Stark stormed up the stairs, dragging her husband's bastard by the ear. She had enough. This bastard had been nothing but trouble!

First was him breaking Robb's ankle in swordplay. That, Catelyn could tolerate. After all, the whole point of having swords was to hurt men. Catelyn didn't like it, but managed to live with it.

Then he went and took Arya adventuring in the godswood. Arya had come back with scratches and bruises all over her body. Catelyn had kept a close eye on Jon after that. She couldn't blame him for that, considering Arya's adventurous nature.

As if those weren't enough, Jon had broken Sansa's doll when playing with Bran. Sansa had cried a full hour while Jon looked on guiltily. Of course, before Catelyn could seize the chance to get Ned to punish him, that little brat had made Sansa a new one and Sansa loved that one even more than the one he broke.

The worst thing of all was when Jon spilled hot water all over baby Rickon.

Of course, Catelyn didn't hate him enough to report all of his faults, but he certainly deserved to be punished for at least one of them.

She reached the second landing and yanked harder on the ear, earning a small cry from the boy, and trotted along the corridor faster. She had no destination in mind, just one notion.

_Punish the boy._

_**Line break**_

Jon was scared. Lady Catelyn had just stormed in when she heard Rickon's cries, and when she saw the scalded Rickon and Jon by his crib holding the guilty pot that was once filled with boiling water, she hadn't said a word but had grabbed Jon by the ear and marched off, leaving a wailing Rickon, a scared Arya that had gone unnoticed and a disgruntled Robb struggling to get up from the floor. Now, they were headed to the torture chambers, and Jon wondered when Catelyn had last cut her nails.

He remembered the scene that had got him into this. Or rather, the scenes. Lady Catelyn seemed to be very stressed.

_**Line break**_

_Robb thrust his wooden sword at Jon's arm, with enough force to leave a bruise, but Jon blocked it and moved in for another attack. Robb jumped aside to duck, but instead he hit his left foot on a rock and fell to the ground with a yowl._

_Jon put away his sword and hurried to check on Robb, but was knocked out of the way by Lady Catelyn. _

'_Robb, are you okay?' she asked, looking over him with a mother's concern-something Jon will never get. Robb managed a pained nod. 'I think the ankle is broken, but nothing else is hurt.'_

'_And you say you are okay,' Catelyn chided. 'Come to the castle, and remind me to never let you play with the bastard again!'_

_**Line break**_

'_Please…' Arya whined, doing the puppy dog eyes. 'Just for once! It wouldn't be fun without you there!'_

_Jon sighed. 'But if I get into more trouble I'm done for. You know your mother.'_

'_Please!'_

_Jon crumbled under Arya's pleading gaze. 'Fine,' he said, grabbing his coat. 'But you are vouching for me if anything goes wrong.'_

_**Line break**_

'_Jon, this is fun!' Bran yelled as Jon chased him over the courtyard. Jon grinned and poured on speed. Sansa was playing with her dolls nearby, with no wish to join the filthy activities. Arya was trying to catch her breath after being chased by Jon for the past half hour._

_Bran looked back over his shoulder to see how Jon was gaining on him, and tripped on a rock._

'_Bran!' Jon rushed to catch him, and succeeded, but by breaking one of Sansa's dolls._

_Sansa stared at the doll, then at Jon with tearful eyes._

_Then she wailed so loudly that Jon supposed that the men at the Wall would have heard it too._

_Catelyn came rushing out at once._

'_Dear, what's wrong?'_

_Then she saw the doll, broken and dirty on the ground._

'_Who did this?'_

_Sansa hiccupped, tears still running down her face. But she still said the words that Jon knew he was doomed for._

'_J…Jon broke her…when Bran…Bran fell down…when they…they were playing…'_

_Catelyn wheeled to face Jon. 'You have been nothing but trouble,' she spat. Then she turned to Sansa, changing her voice tone and expression immediately. 'Hush, dear, I can promise you that father will know about this.'_

_With one last glare at Jon, she marched away._

_**Line break**_

_Jon crossed the nursery carefully, a pot of boiling water in his hands. Lady Catelyn had kept her word about letting his father know, but Lord Eddard Stark had simply chuckled while admiring Sansa's new doll, which she had shown proudly to father._

'_Well,' he said. 'You are a fine craftsman.'_

_Lady Catelyn swelled._

'_But,' he added hastily. 'You must learn to be more careful. In this case, I want you to help the maid carry a pot of hot water to the nursery. '_

_So here he was, carrying a pot of boiling water like any common maid. _

_He entered the nursery, and headed for the table to put the stupid pot down. Robb was there on his crutches, and so was Arya, with an evil glint in her eyes. Bran should be climbing buildings somewhere out there._

_Robb was making his way towards the bookshelf, which was right beside the table, which in turn was beside the crib. Jon walked in the same way as Robb but was careful not to spill a drop of water._

_It all happened in a split second. Arya's eyes widened, realizing what she had done and yelled, 'No!' a moment before Robb tripped over a cleverly placed stack of books and knocked into Jon, thus spilling the water all into the crib._

_Silence._

_Then a wail shook the air. Jon leapt up and looked inside._

_His worst fears were confirmed. Rickon was inside the crib._

_And badly scalded._

_That was when Lady Catelyn stormed in with a god almighty fury._

_**Line break**_

Catelyn flung the doors open. Then she realized where she had brought the boy.

The torture chamber.

Complete with every kind of torture device that comes to mind, the chamber was large and magnificent. Ancient amulets hung from the ceiling to prevent the curse of blood staining their house. Carvings of a man submitting the truth to previous lords of Winterfell were on the walls.

For a moment, Catelyn hesitated.

_He's just a boy._

_He hurt your children!_

_He's only a year younger than Robb._

_He broke Sansa's heart._

_He made up for it._

_But Rickon could die!_

The last one did the spell. Catelyn shoved the boy roughly into the middle of the room and grabbed a whip from the nearby wall.

Jon's eyes widened and he crept away from her.

Catelyn slammed the doors shut and locked them. Then the keys were shoved into her pocket.

Jon scanned the room desperately for an escape. Catelyn advanced on him.

The first blow was struck. Jon screamed.

**Well…a multi chapter one-shot. Make any sense?**


	2. Chapter 2

Lord Eddard Stark rode home in triumph. However, the feeling was extinguished quickly when he entered the nursery.

His eyes widened as he took in the scene. Arya was sobbing her eyes out, Robb looked anxious and a maester was tending to a wailing Rickon in his crib.

'What happened?'

Arya flung herself at him. Robb looked like he wanted to do the same, but couldn't partly because of his leg and partly because of his dignity.

'Father…' Arya sobbed.

Ned let her cling on for a moment or two, and then gently pried her away from him.

'What happened?' he repeated.

'Jon…spilled…' Arya couldn't continue anymore and started to sob again.

It was Robb who answered him. 'Jon spilled hot water on Rickon because Arya here decided to trip me up and I crashed into Jon. Mother dragged Jon upstairs.'

A cold feeling passed over Ned's heart. There was nothing upstairs except the chambers and the torture chamber. He hoped Catelyn will know how to control herself.

But as he flung himself up the stairs, he had a distinct feeling that Catelyn was not tucking Jon into bed.

_**Line break**_

Catelyn had switched to another whip, this one with spikes. She felt like a monster to admit it, but she actually relished it. The screams were like music to her ears.

Truth to be told, she couldn't wait to try out the rest of the torture devices.

_I am a monster._

The voice-her mind-told her.

_Why are you doing this? He's naught but a child._

_Because…_

_Because?_

_Because he hurt my children!_

_And you are hurting him._

Catelyn could not retort, so she drove those thoughts away by whipping Jon again.

_**Line break**_

Every movement felt like he was dragged to hell and back again. His whole body hurt. Every little part he moved will send white hot spikes of pain through his body. The only way to let it out was by screaming.

Why?

Tears streamed down his face as he scrambled away from Catelyn, but not fast enough. The whip was brought down, and it ripped a few of his spinal cords out.

Make it stop, please!

Jon screamed. And screamed. Compared to this, the previous pain had seemed nothing. He clawed at the floor, and one thing suddenly came clearly to him out of the haze of pain.

The exit lies with her.

Mustering all of his final strength, Jon made one desperate lung at Catelyn, catching her off guard. She was knocked to the floor but still hit out at Jon with her whip. Jon bit his lip in pain but found what he was looking for.

The key.

He charged at the door and jabbed the key inside, twisting it. Catelyn got to her feet and realized what he was doing, but too late.

Jon slammed the doors open and dashed down the corridor as fast as he could. He charged down the stairs two at a time and slammed into Lord Eddard Stark.

'What-'he started to say but then noticed Jon's state.

Now that the adrenaline surge had worn off, Jon was starting to feel all of the pain again. He almost collapsed but held on to his father's arm. He swayed.

'Shh.' Ned didn't have much experience with comforting children, especially abused ones. But he did his best. 'Don't worry. Rickon's fine. Now let the maester see you, okay? Come on.'

He picked up Jon in his arms, and made his way down the rest of the stairs.

As soon as he entered the nursery, Arya gave a small gasp and broke down again. Robb stared at Jon's broken body disbelievingly.

'That…Jon…mom didn't do that, right?' Robb's eyes were pleading. It couldn't be. The loving mother that had raised them, never beat them, had done this to their half-brother?

'She did,' Ned said grimly. 'Maester, tend to my son. I'm going to have a talk with your mother.'

'Can we come?' Arya asked through sniffles.

Ned hesitated before answering.

'Yes.'

_I wonder how many 'becauses' Catelyn will give._

**Sorry that it's not up to my usual standard, which is 2000 words per chapter. But it feels like a good place to end.**

**Review, and vote on Catelyn's punishment!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dedicated to my first reviewer Veridissima.**

**All of my reviewers will have their own chapter, don't worry!**

Catelyn stood there in horror, in blood covered clothes, a bloody whip in her hand and thoughts full of guilt.

She didn't mean to do that.

No.

_No._

She really was a monster now.

Now that the moment had passed, she no longer felt the happiness, the feeling of the delightful madness that had overwhelmed her.

She only knew the horror of what she had done.

She tortured an innocent child.

A child that was younger than Robb.

A child that was of her husband's blood.

A child that she had watched growing up.

A child that had been Ned Stark's pride and joy.

She fell to her knees, screaming in horror.

_The child that was loved by Arya so much…_

She looked up, at the bloody floor. Jon's blood.

_The child that had become Robb's dearest brother…_

She flung the whip that had caused so much suffering aside.

_The child that had always apologized whenever he did something wrong and even did his best to make up for it…_

She stood, looking out at the trail of blood that lead out into the corridor. Ned would talk to her later, she knew it. Ned was very protective of Jon and she doubted that even the Stranger knew what he would do.

_The child that had been such a nice older brother to Rickon…_

Realization dawned. She must leave.

_**Line break**_

Ned was furious when he found Catelyn gone.

'Come out!' he hollered. 'There's no running away from what you've done!'

He searched high and low for Catelyn, Arya helping. Bran trotted behind them dutifully, looking out for any details they might have missed.

Nothing.

It was dusk when they finally gave up the search and returned to Jon's room.

Jon was sleeping peacefully, apparently under the influence of the milk of the poppy. The maester was waiting by his bedside for them to come back.

'Will he be okay?' Bran asked timidly, as if afraid of the answer that might come.

'He will be okay, after rest, some potions and a few weeks. There was some damage done to his spine, but not serious enough that he won't be as nimble as before. However, I would advise you not to overtax him for two months after his recovery.' The maester bowed and left.

Bran exhaled visibly. Arya wasn't as pale and shaky as before. Ned was secretly quite glad that Jon was okay. However, he kept a mask of calm on his face. This was his _bastard_. Jon was the testament to the loss of his honor.

Jon stirred, and his eyes opened.

'Father?' he tried to push himself up, but gave a gasp of pain and fell back into the sheets.

'Easy there, Jon.' Robb said, grinning from ear to ear that Jon had woke up. Robb had limped into the room unnoticed by the rest of them and nearly gave Ned a heart attack.

Bran rushed to hug Jon, but Arya beat him to it.

'Jon!' she exclaimed, flinging herself onto her older brother. She barely managed to restrain herself enough not to jostle any of Jon's wounds.

'Hey, little sis,' Jon mussed up her hair. 'How's Rickon?'

'Fine,' Bran told him. 'Just a few burns. He stopped crying right after Maester Luwin gave him a toy.'

'Then I'm making another toy for him too.'

_**Line break**_

Jon slept fitfully, warmed by his family's visit. He was curious to know why Catelyn wasn't there, but he didn't dare to ask. He didn't want another repeat of what had happened. But Catelyn won't go berserk on him with everyone there, would she?

His family's visit, though warming him, did not prevent dreams.

_He was back in the torture chamber, alone and scared. The door was locked, and there was no other way out. He ran around the room, searching for an exit, but couldn't find one._

_Then he heard a voice._

'_I'm sorry.'_

_He felt a kiss on his forehead, and warmth spread all over him. He felt like he was home, and he had a mother._

_He smiled in his sleep._

_**Line break**_

Catelyn couldn't believe that she ever had the heart to hurt this child. He looked almost angelic, pale and sleeping in the moonlight.

'I'm sorry.' She whispered. She doubted that he will hear it, but it was the sincerest thing she had ever said to Jon.

She brushed her lips across Jon's forehead. Jon smiled and stirred. Catelyn straightened, and crept out of the room softly.

'Lady Catelyn?'

She froze in her tracks.

The boy was awake. And he had seen her.

It seemed that the only choice was to turn around and negotiate.

'Yes?'

The boy was staring at her, eyes wide. There was something else in those eyes. Maybe a wall of…tears?

'It was you?'

Catelyn nodded.

Then the words burst out of her in a rush.

'I'm sorry, but I didn't mean to. I know my words are worthless now, but I was scared for Rickon. I was so scared. And every time I see Robb dueling with you, I was so scared for him. Both of you are good, but deep down somewhere I know you are better.'

Catelyn dare not look at Jon, but rambled on. 'And whenever you and Arya go adventuring, I couldn't blame my own blood so I took it out all on you. Then whenever you encourage Bran to go climbing, I feared for him. I know he is a good climber, and you were only trying to get him to do something he liked. And I supposed that I have taken better care of Sansa's dolls than a living breathing human. I'm sorry. I really am.'

Jon was staring open-mouthed at her. Catelyn couldn't blame him. The woman that had beaten him mercilessly for about four hours previously is now here apologizing and spilling out her heart? Impossible. Yet it is happening.

'If you don't want to forgive me, I understand. I just beg one thing of you-please do not tell them that you have seen me. As my punishment, I'm leaving. I just thought it appropriate to beg forgiveness before I leave.'

Jon shook himself out of his stupor. 'Lady Catelyn, I forgive you.' He said the first sentence awkwardly. 'But don't leave. Arya needs you, Robb needs you, Rickon needs you, and Bran and Sansa too. And my lord father would be…' he struggled to find a word that could fully describe a man who lost his wife. '…very upset.'

_Just what Lynna would say._ Catelyn thought. She had been great friends with Ned's younger sister, and stuck to her marriage hoping that Ned would be like Lynna. She missed her friend. She hadn't even got to spend the last year Lynna was alive with her. Thanks to the war.

'I…think I will. But I still deserve to be punished.'

'You redeemed yourself. By giving the boy you tortured a taste of having a mother.'

Catelyn felt tears of joy well in her eyes. She pulled Jon into a hug, carefully avoiding the places where the whip had cut him. She cursed herself for that. 'Son. My son. My handsome, clever son. My brave, wise son. Son.'

Jon could feel tears running down his cheeks too. 'Mom.' He whispered.

_**Line break**_

Ned smiled, crouching behind the drawer. Mayhaps he would not have to break the truth to them so early after all. The truth.

Just thinking of the truth made shivers run down his back.

_Ice and fire._

_Lynna, what have you done?_


End file.
